Out for Queer Blood

On a September night in 1958, three New Orleans college students went looking for a gay man to assault. They chose Fernando Rios, who died from the beating he received. In perhaps the earliest example of the "e;gay panic"e; defense, the three defendants argued that they had no choice but to beat Rios because he had made an "e;improper advance."e; When the jury acquitted the three, the courtroom cheered. The author offers a detailed examination of the murder and the trial.